Muriel Fisher

Vowel insertion in Scottish Gaelic

Phonology / Volume 31 / Issue 01 / May 2014, pp 123 153 DOI: 10.1017/S0952675714000050, Published online: 20 May 2014 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0952675714000050 How to cite this article: Michael Hammond, Natasha Warner, Andréa Davis, Andrew Carnie, Diana Archangeli and Muriel Fisher (2014). Vowel insertion in Scottish Gaelic . Phonology, 31, pp 123-153 doi:10.1017/S0952675714000050 Request Permissions : Click here

The aerodynamic puzzle of nasalized fricatives: Aerodynamic and perceptual evidence from Scottish Gaelic

Abstract Scottish Gaelic is sometimes described as having nasalized fricatives (/ṽ/ distinctively, and [f̃, x̃, h̃], etc. through assimilation). However, there are claims that it is not aerodynamically possible to open the velum for nasalization while maintaining frication noise. We present aerodynamic data from 14 native Scottish Gaelic speakers to determine how the posited nasalized fricatives in this language are realized. Most tokens demonstrate loss of nasalization, but nasalization does occur in some contexts without aerodynamic conflict, e.g., nasalization with the consonant realized as an approximant, nasalization of [h̃], nasalization on the preceding vowel, or sequential frication and nasalization. Furthermore, a very few tokens do contain simultaneous nasalization and frication with a trade-off in airflow. We also present perceptual evidence showing that Gaelic listeners can hear this distinction slightly better than chance. Thus, instrumental data from one of the few languages in the world described as having nasalized fricatives confirms that the claimed sounds are not made by producing strong nasalization concurrently with clear frication noise. Furthermore, although speakers most often neutralize the nasalization, when they maintain it, they do so through a variety of phonetic mechanisms, even within a single language.

Timing of perceptual cues in Scots Gaelic

Scots Gaelic, an endangered language, has several typologically unusual sound distinctions. Work on English or other languages cannot predict what perceptual cues Gaelic listeners might use to perceive these distinctions. The current work uses gating experiments, run in Scotland with 16 native listeners (monolingual in Gaelic until at least school age), to investigate timing of perceptual cues to the palatalization, preaspiration, and nasal frication contrasts. Results show that perceptual information about consonant palatalization is located primarily in the consonant itself, with weaker cues in the preceding vowel. For preaspiration, there is no perceptual information in the preceding vowel, but even half of the preaspiration provides a sufficient cue. The claimed nasal fricatives are particularly interesting, as true nasalized fricatives may be aerodynamically impossible, but nasalization could be realized on the preceding vowel, or without frication. The results show that listeners are only marginally...

Can you say [v] or [x]? Aerodynamics of nasalized fricatives in Scots Gaelic

Scots Gaelic is said to have nasalized fricatives ([ṽ, x, h] etc.). Nasalized fricatives may be aerodynamically impossible (except [h]), because opening the velum would vent the high oral pressure required for frication (Ohala 1975). However, phonologically nasalized fricatives which are realized some other way phonetically are possible, and [h] is possible because the frication occurs behind the velic opening. The current work presents oral and nasal airflow data from 14 native speakers of Scots Gaelic, primarily from the Skye dialect, to investigate the nasalized fricative distinction. Results indicate that the most common solution to the aerodynamic problem is to neutralize the distinction: most phonological nasalized fricatives, from most speakers, are simply not nasalized at all ([v] for [v]. Some tokens show nasalization during the preceding vowel ([av] for [av]). Some tokens in which the expected fricative is pronounced as an approximant (common in Scots Gaelic) show nasalization w for [v]...